


Bouquets of Roses and Gallons of Tea

by Crayolatookmykids



Category: Original Work
Genre: (later on I promise), British Character, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, How Do I Tag, I'm Sorry, Innocent love, LGBTQ Themes, Laura Porago, Light Angst, Love, Main characters are straight but friends and family mostly aren't, Mentions of Sex, My First AO3 Post, One Big Happy Family, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parenthood, Slight side story, Slow Burn, Wedding At Some Point, cool parents, family business, innuendos, large family, mentions of dead moms, very slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-20
Updated: 2020-01-20
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22338247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crayolatookmykids/pseuds/Crayolatookmykids
Summary: Laura Porago is a young entrepreneur of her father’s tea and flower shop, Fleur-de-Thé. Along with her three siblings and grandfather, they run the business with her father and have so far gained a rising popularity. So much so that business investors are getting more and more interested in their crop, making the ones they do have fight for their places as top shareholders. As the main investor of the business, a man takes his yearly inspection of the store and brings his son, Adam along to show him how to properly handle business. What no one expects is the sudden loss of breath he gets once he sees Laura. And no one expects her to have the same reaction when they meet eyes for the first time.





	Bouquets of Roses and Gallons of Tea

Summer was always the busiest time of the year for the Poragos. They were always swamped between the afternoon hours of 12-4, just nearly evening when the rush ends, but not quite. There was always an ambiance during that time, something attuned to a bustling downtown café or late Saturday night bar. Lively and erupting with life. It always makes Laura kinda sick.

Sometimes there are too many people for her to think straight and she starts to panic, which makes grandpa or Preston or Piper have to come in and save the day for her sometimes. She’s still a little new to the waiting part of the job, she’s so used to being the cashier or working in the back with the flowers or checking the stock. She would still be there now if it wasn’t for everyone but Preston wanting her to get out of her shell a bit and mingle with the other people. Preston thought it was a bad idea at first because ‘she’s too cute, we don’t want someone to try and snatch her from us!’, but that argument fell through fast. No one could take her from her family- they’re all she has in life. She couldn’t live without them. 

The day was like any other, just plain and simple. She woke up at seven to prepare the shop for the customers, change the daily happy message on the large open chalkboard taking up one of the walls in the main shop. She was the one that came up with the idea for the board, give people something to look at and kids to play with when they came in. It also gave them a place to write jokes or communicate when they couldn’t. Preston mostly used it for flirting with customers and trying to get numbers, but no one ever bothered to erase what he wrote. That’s just Preston for you. Sometimes at the end of the day, you would be able to see what Artemis had written and then erased, usually a calculation or small note to do something later. He only erased it when he had completed what he had done. 

Laura usually got her message from her dreams or morning thoughts, so today’s would be ‘Don’t let the little fox in your mind tell you can’t do something; it’s just mad that they can’t have it’. Usually. But, that seems a little weird, maybe something based off of the tea specials? They were having a summer special today, an Iced Tea with lemon slices and mint leaves and optional shaved ice and sugar crystals. Maybe something like ‘Summer is here! Enjoy the present and indulge!’. Yeah, that sounds good. She picks the blue chalk for the message and draws little dunes and sun around the message in yellow chalk. She admires her handiwork and goes into the seating for the customers to rearrange the chairs and beautify the tables for the special drink. The store is quiet. She’s always the one to wake up and get to the shop first. Sometimes dad is here before her, but not usually. She always makes sure things are up to par before anyone gets here, and that the kitchen is ready for the few employees they have. This is a mostly family ran business, so there isn’t room for many others to be a part of it, besides the investors. 

Investors! That’s what she forgot! An investor was coming in to do his annual business inspection! She’d have to remind dad and grandpa, might as well remind everyone. Just before they are open she’ll tell everyone in the back. There is a small jingle of the chimes as the shop door is open, and a sudden eruption of commotion makes the shop suddenly feel full for a moment. 

“So we’re having a summer theme this time? Cute~, why don’t we do that more?”

“Because then the idea will get boring. It’s overused anyway, I just couldn’t think too well the other day. Maybe we should have a special sale on Sunflowers today too?”

Preston sets his coffee thermos on the closest table, Piper following him to set her purse and Hot chocolate-filled Hydro Flask right beside his thermos. Piper had her hair in a braid today and had a very summer aesthetic for her outfit. Even her purse had island flowers and waves on it. Preston was always wearing a hat or headscarf. He was the only one besides Laura to have their mother’s deep red frizzy hair, so he had to pull it back for work. Laura always just kept her hair in a bun or ponytail or braids to keep it out of her face, even though a few strands are always going to escape to matter what. Piper had their grandma Portia’s dusty brown and straight hair, while Artemis got their dad’s platinum blonde hair.

“Yeah, maybe the Sunflowers are a good idea. Maybe we can have a sale on summer bouquets including them today?” Preston queued, a small smile on his face as he took off his sandals and put them in his bag, replacing them with some form of sneaker for work. 

Piper had sat and started to sip her cocoa, crossing her legs and listening intently. Even though they were both older than Laura by a few years, they treated her like she was the boss most of the time. Probably because she did the most work out of all of them, just to help out their dad with no reward in return. She considered the reward to be the success of the business. There was another jingle of the chimes, and all turned to greet the employees coming in. Behind them was their oldest brother, Artemis. He was too busy holding the door for the employees to notice that Preston was coming to greet him. They were close since they had such a tight connection after Artemis came into their lives. They were usually always together, and even though Artemis was always a distant one, Preston was the one that got him out of his shell a bit. Now, Preston pulls Artemis into the shop as gently as a brute like himself can manage.

“Good morning, Arty!” They all chimed in slightly after one another, Preston the first to yell it directly into Artemis’ face. 

With a small wince from the sudden volume, Artemis pushed Preston’s face. They laughed a little, a small smile on Artemis’ face to contradict Preston’s wide grin. 

“Morning. What’s up for today?” Artemis said as he found a resting spot beside Piper, leaning on the side of a booth, arms crossed as he read his phone.

“We were just talking about the Summer Special today. The drink is on the board and the kitchen is already prepped, we were just talking about the flower deal for today.” Laura explained.

“Oh nice, what was the plan?” He inquired, eyes still glued to his screen.

He usually did this when he was either texting William or taking notes, sometimes checking notes from previous dates. He was always calculating or helping in finances, he did have a business degree, after all, so he was a huge asset to the business. 

“Sunflower inclusive bouquets get some amount of discount.” Preston chimed in after finishing a sip of his coffee. 

“Are you still drinking that warm stuff in this heat?” Artemis looked up from his phone, a look of faux disgust on his face as he glanced from Piper to Preston. 

They both stopped the swigs of their hot beverages just to stare at Artemis with a look of amusement. Laura rolled her eyes in mock annoyance, walking back to the chalkboard to add the discount to the board in pink and white chalk. All the while, Preston and Piper were not so quietly berating Artemis.

“Oh, that’s bold coming from you, Mr. ‘I-crave-blistering-hot-tea-in-the-middle-of-a-heat-wave’.” Piper cooed. 

“That was one time, you can’t hold that over my head forever!”

“Oh, but we will” Preston sighed, amusedly.

“Now now, stop bothering Artemis you too.” A tired voice interjected.

The Poragos turn to see their father in the door, help grandpa into the store with his cane. Preston gets up to help their dad, saying a quiet good morning to each other as their dad went further into the shop to say a proper good morning to everyone. He stops in front of the board to read the daily message and the discount. He nodded in quiet agreement, smiling.

“It’s nice Laura, good job. How long have you all been here?” He praised.

“Us three haven’t been here for long, but Laura was here before we were, and she did the decor on the tables, so,” Piper said.

“I haven’t been here for long either, pop, I got here a little after seven-thirty.”

“It’s nearly time to open Laura.” Her dad chuckled.

It’s been nearly three hours? Jesus. She still has to tell all of the employees and the family about the investor coming in! 

“Have you even sat down yet, dear?” 

“I did for a moment.”

Her father and grandpa laugh.

“Ilya, she’s just like you when you were young.” grandpa sighed with a sense of fondness. 

“She’s an entrepreneur, dad. She’ll never rest, it’s not in her blood.” dad, Ilya, cooed.

Grandpa sat beside Preston, Preston drinking his coffee and having light conversation with him. Artemis would occasionally huff out of his nose and show what had amused him to Piper and Preston, them asking him to send it to them so they can show someone too, sometimes even saying ‘William has to see this’. Whenever they said William’s name though, his cheeks would grow slightly pink. This was the family, the peace that they experience every day, the calm before the rush of the day. There were already some cars pulling into the parking lot, probably to get their morning drinks and a small snack before work or on their way to drop off their kids to school.

“Okay everyone, listen up. We have the investor coming in today, Mr. Reignhart. It’s time for his annual business inspection, so I want you all to be on your best behavior. Laura, you’ll take my place today in the management while I’m with him. Everyone else should just continue what you usually do during the day.” Ilya explained, loud enough for the kitchen to hear. 

Grandpa stands, Preston helping him up as he grabs his cane. They work together in the Greenhouse section of the shop, taking care of the flowers. It’s simple work for grandpa and Preston just like the calming work. He also gets to watch over grandpa, which puts his mind at ease. Grandpa is much older than the rest in the family, he had Ilya at an older age with Portia. Grandpa and Ilya look nearly identical, besides the eye color and height and age. Artemis is the same with dad, besides their skin colors and eye shapes, they’re nearly identical as well. Strong genes for firstborns. 

Laura sighed in pure joy that she wasn’t the only one to remember. She knew she could count on dad! As everyone went to their stations, Artemis had started for the door.

“I’ll come back around rush hour. See you ‘til then.” He absently waved as he left, kissing grandpa on the forehead before he did. 

“Don’t work too hard, we’re supposed to be eating out together tonight! Don’t forget to bring William, it’s been a minute since we’ve seen him!” Piper reminds Artemis, teasing just slightly.

He doesn’t answer, but nearly everyone can tell his face is pink. There is a small round of laughter between the remaining family as they head to their stations, putting all of their belongings in their work lockers in the back. Laura was left alone to finally open the store doors with the ring of the chimes. The few people that had parked were already rushing in with distinct ‘hellos’ and ‘good mornings’. The sky was just getting over its gorgeous sunrise, the pastel blue of the clear sky and the vibrancy of the sun showing proudly. 

Today will be a good day.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I have been an avid reader of ao3 for about a year or two now, and I adore the site! I can't wait to write more stories to share with you guys! I hope you liked this first chapter-sort-of-prelude, I was excited to write it since I've had these characters for over a decade. I've been working hard to improve them and have them at a place I feel okay enough to share (which I now have!) Comments are much appreciated and encouraged, anything is welcome!


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